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	Fondling Little Boys Means You Can't Be a Priest or a Special Olympics Volunteer By Peter Rugg Pitch Weekly July 21, 2010 http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/07/tom_ericksen_special_olympics.php Former Roman Catholic priest Tom Ericksen was removed from his volunteer position with Special Olympics Missouri this week after the organization found out that Ericksen's predilection for fondling young boys was the subject of a $5 million sex-abuse settlement in 1989 with the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin. The Associated Press reported that Ericksen admitted fondling children but said he had never had inappropriate contact with any children he met through the Special Olympics. "I just fondled and stuff like that," Ericksen told the AP. "But I can't say I didn't do inappropriate things. ... But I never had sex" Ericksen said he'd volunteered for Special Olympics Missouri for about five years. Special Olympics officials said they ran a background check on Ericksen when he applied to volunteer, but nothing turned up. Possibly because no criminal charges were filed in the case leading to the civil settlement. Ericksen's duties involved checking in volunteers at metro area games, and officials denied that he was ever in a role where he'd have "direct access to athletes."
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